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The Korean auto giants just turned in the best July in their American histories. Hyundai Motor America moved 82,480 vehicles last month, up 4% year over year, while Kia America delivered 75,857, up 7%. Between them, that is more than 158,000 sales in a single month — and almost none of the momentum came from battery-electric models. The same reports that celebrate record months show Hyundai’s Ioniq lineup and Kia’s EV6 posting some of their weakest numbers in years.

A record month built on hybrids

Hyundai’s growth story in July was written almost entirely in hybrid ink. Hybrid sales climbed 35% year over year, with the Sonata HEV up a remarkable 85%, the Elantra HEV up 13%, and the Tucson HEV up 5% — all three setting all-time July records. The gas-and-hybrid Tucson family was Hyundai’s best seller at 19,714 units, up 20%, followed by the Elantra at 17,115, up 39%. Electrified vehicles — hybrids and EVs combined — accounted for roughly one-third of Hyundai’s retail sales.

“Hyundai’s July results demonstrate the growing appeal of our hybrid-powered SUVs, with hybrid sales increasing 35% year over year,” said Randy Parker, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America.

Kia’s hybrid surge was even steeper: hybrid sales more than doubled, up 108% year over year, and the brand’s combined electrified lineup grew 52%. Six Kia models set July records — the Sportage Hybrid (up 76%), Seltos (up 61%), Carnival Hybrid and Sorento Hybrid (each up 16%), Telluride (up 13%), and the K4 (up 8%). “Kia’s momentum continues to increase as we see widespread interest in a variety of models across our entire lineup, from sedans to SUVs, to hybrids and all-electric powertrains,” said Eric Watson, Kia America’s VP of sales operations.

The EV column tells a different story

Flip to the battery-electric rows and the picture darkens fast. The Ioniq 5 — long one of America’s favorite non-Tesla EVs — found 3,636 buyers in July, down 38% from a year ago. The three-row Ioniq 9 managed 700 units, down 35%. And the Ioniq 6 sedan cratered to just 76 sales, a stunning 92% collapse. Over at Kia, the EV9 logged 1,650 units and the EV6 just 674.

The most obvious culprit is the disappearance of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which expired at the end of September 2025. Hyundai and Kia EVs had been among the credit’s biggest beneficiaries, especially through leasing. With that support gone, the value equation for many mainstream shoppers has tilted toward hybrids, which carry no charging-infrastructure anxiety and now often undercut comparable EVs on monthly payment.

Electrification didn’t stall — it changed shape

It would be easy to read July as an electrification retreat, but the numbers say something subtler. A third of Hyundai’s retail volume was electrified, and Kia’s electrified sales grew by half. American buyers are still moving away from pure combustion in record numbers — they are just taking the hybrid on-ramp rather than the all-electric one while EV sticker prices adjust to a post-incentive market.

Year to date, Hyundai has sold 533,048 vehicles (up 3%) and Kia 506,584 (up 4%), keeping Kia on pace for a fourth consecutive annual record.

What it means

Hyundai and Kia are proving that a flexible powertrain strategy is the winning hand in today’s US market: when EV demand wobbled, their hybrid capacity absorbed the shift and kept the records coming. But the EV numbers are a flashing signal to the industry that the post-tax-credit market has repriced electric cars, and automakers will have to close that gap themselves — through cheaper models, aggressive leases, or both. For the Korean brands, the pressure now falls on their next wave of more affordable EVs to restart the electric growth engine that incentives once powered.

Sources: Hyundai Motor America July 2026 sales release and Kia America July 2026 sales release, both via PR Newswire.